At yesterday’s “Cruise In for Fall Enrollment” at the Englewood Learning Center, Sinclair auto tech faculty and students helped fulfill a very special wish.

The project began as an effort by Dawayne Kirkman, ELC manager, and his staff to do something new at this year’s event and get ELC students more involved within their community. Working with A Special Wish, Dawayne and his team learned about Darryl Sorrell, a 17-year-old Miami Valley Career Technology Center student. Darryl has B-Cell Lymphoma. His wish was to have his 1983 Chevrolet Diesel pickup truck restored so he could drive it.

A quick phone call to John Porter, a professor of automotive technology, started Darryl’s truck down the road to a major transformation.

According to Steve Ash, the department chair, the restoration was a service-learning project for 30 to 40 people from Sinclair’s automotive program who volunteered their time. The Auto Tech crew spent 400 hours over the last 42 days restoring and modifying the truck.
“We had almost $6,000 from Special Wish Foundation to use, and then we got about $11,000 worth of donations,” Porter said.

Darryl Sorrell smiled and applauded when he first saw his truck on Wednesday.

“They did a lot more than I was expecting,” said Sorrell.

In addition, ELC students raised $70 to get a gas card for Sorrell’s first tank of fuel.